Former President Barack Obama's office issued a rare and forceful public response on Tuesday after President Donald Trump accused him of committing "treason" and attempting to sabotage the 2016 and 2020 elections. The extraordinary exchange followed declassified documents released by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and growing political pressure surrounding Trump's revived grievances over Russian interference investigations.
"Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response," said Obama spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush. "But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction."
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Trump shifted questions about late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to assert that "Obama's been caught directly." He added, "What they did in 2016 and 2020 is very criminal. It's criminal at the highest level... This was treason. This was every word you can think of. They tried to steal the election."
Trump's remarks came on the heels of a report from Gabbard, who stated on social media that she would refer Obama-era intelligence officials to the Justice Department for criminal investigation. Gabbard alleges that the intelligence community "suppressed" findings that Russia did not impact the outcome of the 2016 election and that Obama aides engaged in a "treasonous conspiracy" to harm Trump.
"On Dec 8, 2016, IC officials prepared an assessment for the President's Daily Brief, finding that Russia 'did not impact recent U.S. election results' by conducting cyber attacks on infrastructure," Gabbard wrote. "Before it could reach the President, it was abruptly pulled 'based on new guidance.' This key intelligence assessment was never published."
However, the Obama administration never claimed that Russia's cyberattacks changed the vote tally. "I can assure the public that there was not the kind of tampering with the voting process that was of concern," Obama said at the White House in December 2016. "The votes that were cast were counted - they were counted appropriately."
Rodenbush echoed that stance, noting, "Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes."
The 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment concluded that Russia's goal was to damage Hillary Clinton's campaign and boost Trump's. That view was later affirmed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and a 2020 bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio. The Senate report stated: "Russia's goal in its unprecedented hack-and-leak operation... was to assist the Trump Campaign. Candidate Trump and his Campaign responded... by embracing, encouraging, and exploiting the Russian effort."
Trump's new push to prosecute former Obama officials coincides with renewed scrutiny of the Epstein case and rising criticism from his base. "This is just another example of the DNI trying to cook the books, rewrite history, and erode trust in the intelligence agencies she's supposed to be leading," said Sen. Mark Warner (D., Va.).
House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar said, "[T]hey'll release anything if it buys them another day or two to not talk about Epstein."
Trump has also accused Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) of criminal misconduct, shared AI-generated mugshots of Democratic figures, and used his Truth Social platform to amplify calls for criminal charges tied to his long-standing grievances.
Meanwhile, Special Counsel John Durham's investigation, initiated under Attorney General William Barr, concluded that while the FBI showed "a serious lack of analytical rigor," it found no criminal conspiracy to falsely implicate Trump in Russian interference.
